Jersey Shore Fishing: Striper bite improving for boaters

There was better news all around for striper anglers on boats, but that didn't apply to the surf.

There was no lack of action almost all day when I fished with Chuck Many of Annandale from his Ty Man out of Gateway Marina in Highlands along with Nellie Greer of Bethlehem, Pa. Greer got us off to a good start in the morning by castnetting two dozen adult bunkers. After catching a few shorts casting 5-inch Tsunami Shads to birds in the middle of the bay to get things started, we moved over to the N.Y. side and put the live bunkers to good use before running out of them while releasing keeper bass up to almost 20 pounds on the same drift producing steady action with the shads for small bass which certainly dominated our fishing. The three of us ended up releasing 129 stripers that included about a dozen keepers, but only one "slot". I'll have more about this in Friday's column.

At Atlantic Highlands, the Sea Hunter reported a very good first drift with a mix of shorts, slots and keepers. Capt, Rob Semkewyc even ran down the beach after that only to find bass showing at Shrewsbury Rocks but feeding on tiny bait and refusing all offerings.

Capt. Ron Santee also did a lot of traveling with his Fishermen after a good start on the ebb when it was very rough with the east wind against the current.

The Golden Eagle from Belmar reported a decent trip as some fares caught both a keeper and a bonus bass, though others couldn't score. In any case, the sporadic bite was a big improvement from over the weekend.

Miss Belmar Princess fished right outside Shark River Inlet and then to the south for a decent pick on shads from bunker schools.

The Queen Mary from Point Pleasant got into lots of bluefish with some stripers mixed in.

Capt. Stan Zagleski noted that the east wind didn't bother blackfish anglers on his Elaine B. II from Bahrs in Highlands, but it wasn't easy fishing as most did well.